Can I avoid paying unexpected customs charge?

QI ordered a laptop battery from Adapter & Battery Online ( www.acadapter.co. uk) for £43.40 plus £5.99 postage. The website looked like it was based in the UK, with all prices in sterling, and all correspondence came from a UK email address. Then I received a card from the Post Office saying I had to pay £15 customs charge before delivery. At no time was I made aware this would happen, so am I entitled to a refund? Can I just let the Post Office return the item to Adapter & Battery Online? David Bernstein

AYes, we’d suggest David does that. Because the company was less than transparent about its location, and didn’t mention he would need to pay a customs charge, we think he should ignore the letter. The parcel will be returned to the company without him paying any money. He’d then need to ask the company for a refund because the package couldn’t be delivered, but we wouldn’t advise saying why.

Despite having a ‘.co.uk’ domain name, Adapter & Battery Online is actually based in Hong Kong. The problem for David is that you can’t apply UK law to overseas countries unless they are global entities trading in this country.

Over the years, many Computeractive readers have contacted us with this kind of complaint. Carefully reading a company’s terms and conditions should reveal where they are based. If not, email them to check, asking whether you’d be liable for customs charges such as VAT, which also incurs an £8 handling charge by Royal Mail.

We’ve told the company it should refund David, and also asked it why it doesn’t tell customers they have to pay a customs charge. We’ve also advised David to refer his case to Hong Kong’s consumerrights council ( www.snipca. com/26377).